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I am currently living in Texas. I have been divorced for 12

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I am currently living in Texas. I have been divorced for 12 years. I am active duty military I hav ebeen lucky enough to get stationed in same town as my children twins will be 17 this month. since our divorce i have received 2 promotions and remarried. Of course to my Ex that means I make more money which is true. We hae a standard texas joint custody agreement..My Ex now wants to get more money from me knowing I make more would not be unreasonable if i already did not split every extra cirricular cost with her out of kindness and taking care of my kids. My Kids live within 5 minutes of my home and I pick them up from school 2 days a week for overnight stays and they stay with me whenever they want.Tried to keep it reasonable I pay for so many additional items and dont have a problem with it except when my ex thinks I have too. I coach my daughters B-ball team in summer and spend a lot of quality time with both my kids I now have a newborn also should I fight child support review

Thanks for your question.You should consent to review.Then you should pay your court ordered share here.You are not required to pay for other activities unless you agree or the court orders it.Maybe you rethink what activities you can afford if they raise the required support.You are not obligated to fund extra curricular activities unless the court orders it.One way or another you cap what you can pay for.If she raises support you do less activities.

Well Basically then to paraphrase what I got out of your answer is..Do the review pay more and do less with my kids.....That is why I think the system is unfair. How do you justify for the Well being of the kids "pay more do less". I think I may need a lawyer that will be willing to challenge the basic principle that the custodial parent should have majority of court rulings in their favor..clearly i think the system was supposed to benefit the Kids and if I can show which I can that I am doing way more good for them by being a Father and not a bitter absentee parent paying child support but not raising them. I am hoping that a judge could make that decision...I am not going to pay more and do less this is for their lives and I am not willing to sacrifice my living standards with my wife and newborn because my ex is using me as extra income because she is stuck with a 12th grade education and a job not a career...

All I can tell you is that Texas child support is pretty simple.The guidelines cover probably 90% of the cases and the judges follow them pretty strictly.I am a Texas lawyer for 26 years.Here is the guidelines and formula.Again I agree with you that the system has flaws but it is the current law

The Texas Family Code contains guidelines for the computation of child support. The guidelines are specifically designed to apply to situations in which the obligor's monthly net resources are $7,500.00 or less. In such cases, the court presumptively applies the following schedule:

1 child2 children3 children4 children5 children6 or more children

If the Obligor has children from another relationship(s), the percentages listed above may be reduced.

If the obligor's net resources exceed $7,500.00 per month, the Court shall presumptively apply the above percentages to the first $7,500.00 of net resources. Without further reference to the percentage, the court may order additional amounts of child support. The court may not order the obligor to pay more child support than the presumptive amount (as calculated by multiplying the above applicable percentage times $7,500.00) or an amount equal to 100% of the proven needs of the child, whichever is greater.

Net resources is defined very broadly, and income can also be imputed to a party.

In addition to monthly child support payments, the payor is required to maintain the children on the payor's employment health insurance policy. If insurance is not available through the payor's employment, but is available through the payee's employment, the payor will be ordered to pay the premium costs. If insurance is not available through either parties' employment, the payor will be ordered to provide insurance coverage to the extent available and affordable. Additionally, the Court usually makes orders regarding the payment of deductibles and other uninsured expenses. All Orders dealing with child support must now be accompanied by an Order of Withholding. Medical Support Orders are now commonplace. The Withholding order, after presented to the payor's employer, has the Court-ordered child support deducted directly from the payor's paychecks.

The court can also order Payor to secure life insurance to cover the amount of child support that will become due until the child support obligation would terminate, which can be up to 18+ years.

when stating medical insurance which I already have for the kids does that include Dental as well. My ex thinks it does and i do not think medical covers dental..unfortunately the above answer I already have that info...i have researched the standard but believe If I go above the mentioned standard that I should have a fighting chance in court to not raise support obligations..do I stand a chance with that mentality....

Well in the sense that court will tell the ex--if the court raises the support amount then he can't afford to pay for these activities.You are only going to get this amount here.And dental is not part of the support by law.It is not built in to the support limits so its a good argument for you.I mean honestly the court makes the ex choose here.If he raise it he will instruct her that you aren't obligated to pay dental or extracurricular activities.So she will have to pick her remedy here.So I'm not sure she nets out any better but maybe she doesn't see it that way.

No she will not but ultimately I think she knows that I do anything financially to give my kids a decent life and oppurtunity to succeed..Should I fill out paperwork the child support division has sent and requested or go to court..the child support division seems pretty invasive....and I do not know if i am legally bound to provide the info they are asking by mail....and will i be penalized by not filling out.....?

also looking at a guide to "Lower child support" from wagner & associates..not really trying to get out of anything I just think the system is sleighted unfair to non-custodial parents and when you have a good one they should not be punished by dollar amounts thier is so much more involved to raising good kids than Money....and I do not like giving up my hard earned money just because....the ex sees you are happily remarried and are able to afford some nice things in life because you remarried smartly and happily...and you share those things with your kids and she feels jealous because she cannot afford to have or do some of those things for your kids and the way too get back at you is get you for more money.

I think that you have the right to decline here and they will set it for court.Honestly it isn't in your best interests to cooperate here.You can take your chances here with the judge.And you may get a friendlier audience.It comes down to power here--she wants the money and power to dictate.Any chance your kid wants to live with you here.They are old enough to express preference.The desires of child might decide who gets custody.Since you are going back to court anyway you could motion to modify.It would give you leverage and AG here will not represent her in custody.She would have to fight your lawyer.

I am thinking this is probably my best road to take..My kids in all honesty I know they would say yes just because of all they see I do but in the sympathy battle i would lose because my kids view me as the unflappable dad who does'nt have much felling (boy are they wrong) Being military and pretty strict about standards pertaining to school and the fact that we only live 5 min. apart I think the custody issue as far as making them choose is unfair to them and puts them in an unfair position becuase they will feel whomever losses may be mad with them and being they are getting ready to turn 17 and next year being sr's in high school they have enough to deal with...But with that being said I feel like in order to insure they get the best they can I may have to resort to a lawyer and a nasty battle just do not want to cause any undue stress on them...so basically if I do not fill out review paperwork will I be eventually subpeoned to court...? then is that when I hire a lawyer? I am assuming at this point I would ask for a custody review to go along with support review and that is when AG will not represent any longer ..? also should I at least try the wagner and associates deal of lowering my support obligations..?

You would be served with motion to modify here.Honestly I reread here--if your kids are 17 not sure they can even get you served and heard before they are 18.So yes I would respectfully XXXXX XXXXX cooperate here.I'm not even sure why your ex would file this with a year to go here.Agreeing to this is not necessarily in your interests here.I woudl make them file and then respond.A lawyer would keep this from ever seeing a judge before they are 18.Time here is on your side.I'm not sure custody is worth fighting here if they are 17.They can come live with you when they are 18 or they go off to college.Also support ends in Texas at high school graduation or 18.So you are soon to be a free man here legally,

o.k so let me recap just to make sure I am getting this correct...I do not reply to Child support division, wait to be served with motion to modify, then hire a lawyer to review my case and take time to gather the facts, reset dates if neccessary and by that time they will be 18...No back support would be ordered for not responding to child support divison's request by mail date..? I am taking your not answering my question about wagner and associates guide as not wanting to discuss other law firms practices...I would understand that..

They could only go back to the date of filing here at worst.I am not sure court would even here this after they turn 18.And honestly not sure if AG would get around to filing here at all.They might bury this if you don't pay.

I thought texas was very aggressive pursuing child support issues but of course dont know the in's and out's of the system and was thinking that they would rush to file immediately considering their is only a year left...I received letter fron AG approx. 12 feb and they requets I fill out within 30 days....after I do not return this to them what should I expect as their next course of action? ohhh by the way I am satisfied with your service so far.....

AG doesn't do anything immediately.Having worked in state government its not that fast.Tomorrows a state holiday.They will file in a month or two.This might be heard in another couple of months.You can always save your lawyer money and go represent yourself .I mean whatever they order here is short term--not sure its really worth hiring a lawyer although a lawyer may just stall this out unitl they are 18.They should be abel to do this on the cheap.Good luck to you--her you will be free of the ex here pretty soon.

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